This invention relates to linear image sensors in which light propagating from an object and incident imagewise on photosensor arrays signals an imagewise electrical output.
Large arrays of solid-state photosensors are currently used in applications such as video cameras and document scanners. The semiconductor fabrication techniques currently employed to manufacture these arrays limit the maximum physical dimension to approximately one inch. There are further limitations, both physical and electrical, which establish a minimum center-to-center distance between adjacent photosensor elements. Thus, in a single array, there exists a maximum number of photosensor elements which can be practically fabricated. Since the image resolution achievable with such an array is proportional to the number of photosensor elements in the array, there are potential scanning applications where the available number of photosensors in one array is insufficient to produce the desired image resolution. To overcome this difficulty, it is common practice to use several photosensor arrays such that the total number of photosensor elements is adequate to achieve the desired image resolution.
It is an object of this invention to provide a novel optical-mechanical technique for combining a plurality of photosensor arrays for improvement in resolution of the image sensed and signaled thereby.